IT has been a long, hard road from Ghana to Middlesbrough, but George Boateng has reached his journey's end smiling.

Boro's new signing knows how fortunate he is to have been blessed with a natural footballing talent.

For Boateng has only to look back to his teenage years to realise that he - like his friends - could easily have been sucked into a life of crime.

Having emigrated from Africa at an early age, Boateng had to grow up quickly. He lived in Spijkenisse, a rough neighbourhood just outside Rotterdam, where the mean streets were a far cry from Holland's canals and windmills.

He readily admits that he made friends with some of the area's more unsavoury residents and is aware that he could easily have been steered off the straight and narrow.

But instead of being led astray, Boateng was salvaged by football; rather than become a young tearaway, he turned to Christianity.

He admitted: "I grew up in a tough area. You had to survive, so sometimes you had to do things to survive.

"Taxis never stopped outside my front door because the area was so dangerous. Those things happened and I just had to accept them.

"I must admit I had bad friends. When I was 14 or 15 they started getting involved in crime.

"But I was fortunate because my dad and the Feyenoord youth system were very good to me. I used to be picked up from school and taken straight to training. I had to show the club my exam results and reports.

"But my friends made it difficult for me.

"For instance, on a couple of occasions a guy I knew who looked a little bit like me went out the night before I was due to play for Feyenoord.

"The manager called me in the next morning and said: 'You were out last night.' I said: 'It wasn't me,' and I had to describe the person.

"The newspapers said: 'George Boateng was out drinking - no wonder Feyenoord lost.' But it wasn't true.

"I also had a few problems when I first started playing for the first team as people said a lot of things about me that weren't true."

Boateng had just broken into the side when he was detained overnight by police, accused of pointing a gun at a bouncer after he had been refused entry to a Rotterdam nightclub.

The case was dropped because of a lack of evidence, and the player always pleaded his innocence.

Stories about Boateng's brushes with authority sit uneasily alongside the image he tries to project and his conduct off the pitch. He does not drink and claims he seldom has nights out.

But beneath his affable exterior, Boateng holds forthright opinions and is not afraid to bruise one or two egos by expressing them.

He has embraced the English way of life - even admitting he is partial to cake and custard - and said: "When players move to another country, they must have the right attitude.

"Are you going to a foreign country because you love the game that much, or are you going because you're going to collect your money? If you're going to collect your money, you're clearly not interested in the culture.

"I didn't leave Feyenoord because I was in need of money, because I was happy with the four-year deal I had there. The day I signed my contract with Coventry, I didn't go there because of the money - I just wanted to play.

"As a foreigner, you should try to become one of them. It was very hard for me in the beginning with the language, and trying to understand the culture and the way people behave.

"But I worked hard, and I enjoy it here. I don't miss anything about the football in Holland. The only thing I miss is my family and friends."

Boateng left Aston Villa after handing in a transfer request five minutes after their final game of last season, at Chelsea.

He was pursued by Steve McClaren for most of the summer before the Middlesbrough manager finally got his man last week.

Boateng cannot wait for the new season to start with Saturday's trip to Southampton, and said: "This is a new challenge and I'm hungry to play football again.

"I lost my appetite and desire slightly at Villa because I felt I was in a comfort zone. But I want to use this opportunity to show how hungry I am to win games.

"I don't need to say a lot about the ambition of Middlesbrough. Just look at the amount they have invested compared to the amount Villa have invested."

Read more about Middlesbrough here.